Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

As I write this, D.C. and it’s surrounding areas are in the midst of a blizzard. Yeah. A blizzard. My readers from all points north can stop reading here and commence eye-rolling because I am about to exclaim my wonder at the amount of snow that has accumulated in these parts. As of now, it’s upwards of two feet, and going steadily. I know, right! It’s probably the most snow I’ve ever seen, and it’s definitely the most snow I’ve seen recently and in D.C.

When I was growing up there was a snowfall of two feet in North Carolina. It probably hit most of the east coast, so a lot of you probably had the same experience. It was incredible. It started to snow as I went to bed and I remember yelling downstairs to my mom that she should wake me up if there was school. The next morning I woke up (on my own) to two feet of snow, my own winter wonderland. And because before college the only places I’d ever lived were southern Florida and central North Carolina, it was the most (naturally occurring- I’d been skiing) snow I’d ever seen.

Durham shut down, we were out of school for 10 days (two whole weeks). It was incredible, I’d never experienced anything like it. When I tell my friends from outside the south how incredibly that snowfall impacted North Carolina they can’t believe it, but it’s not like we had thatmany snow plows. And while I’m sure today’s snow won’t hurt the District in quite the same ways, I can’t help drawing comparisons.

When I went to the grocery store last night to buy lots of wine (and bacon) they were out of everything, picked clean by the threat of a snowpacalypse. I made a big pot of soup, thawed some lasagna, and thanked the stars that we always have quesadilla ingredients. Because in a time like this, you’ll want to hunker down with a bowl of soup or stew and enjoy being inside. And if you have the ingredients on hand or can find them at the market, these muffins are the perfect mate to a big bowl of warm goodness.

Thought you’d be amused to know that all of us here in Raleigh were GEARED UP for snow (i.e. the bread aisle was wiped clean), but all we got from the storm was rain. Dang rain! Wishing we’d had your snowy weekend.

This recipe looks wonderful! We make chili all the time, and these would be a great side.